The Hidden Nemesis
by troy2000
Summary: In the year 2013, we have yet to make known contact with another civilisation. We have all made mistakes in the past, some greater and more destructive than others. Yet through all this, we strive to become more enlightened. Do others see it that way?
1. Introduction and Origins

It is the year 2013. Mankind has yet to make known contact with another civilisation. Is it purely due to the vastness of the universe, or is it something more?

We have all made mistakes in the past, some greater and more destructive than others. Yet despite all this, we strive to become more enlightened and learn from those mistakes, helping our species to learn and grow.

But on occasion, even the most good-intentioned of ill decisions can return to haunt us. What if this optimism is not shared by observers? When not experienced through the eyes of the observed, many of the atrocities of our past become much more savage.

In the lives of the Tennysons, a lot has changed in the last six years. Ever since the Plumbers' organisation was reinstated by Ben Tennyson back in 2010, a multitude of new exomorphic technology has found it's was to Earth, bringing with it many undesirable visitors. Deciding to keep knowledge of alien presence from a world not yet ready for such information, the Tennysons along with many recent allies, fight to protect their home planet.

This is about to change...


	2. Night Terrors

Ben woke with a start, searching through the blackness of his bedroom for anything which could have been responsible. It must have been around 3am and the smell of the fire from the house across the road had long since faded. Outside the open window was complete darkness, not even a tree or the distant light of somebody's car visible, all was silent. After a few moments thought, he sat up and pulled himself out of bed to check the time on the luminous clock across the room. Ben shivered as he stepped out onto the icy carpet. He presumed this to be a result of the window, which had been left open all night, though it really hadn't been _that _cold earlier. He felt a shiver run down his spine which was totally disconnected to the temperature of the room. It was as though there was someone else there with him, unseen, but watching. A sudden sense of terror. Whatever this was all about, he thought, it was certainly not a dream. He approached the window, slowly letting up the blind and peering out into the darkness, trying to see past his own reflection in the cold glass. As his eyes began to adjust, a low rustling sound caught his attention. It lasted for barely a second. Glancing around the room, outlines of the various objects lying around became partially visible, as if they were being pulled from the shadows before his eyes, though everything was once again still. Returning his attention to the window, trying to clear the glass by rubbing it with his hands, he realised what was wrong. The lawn, the fields, the countryside all was submerged in thick, impenetrable fog. With no idea of what was going on, he felt around for the light switch, eventually jamming the button down and expecting the room to be illuminated at any moment. Nothing happened. Another rustle emanated from somewhere. Whatever it was, it was closer. Leaving the freezer-like conditions of his bedroom, he arrived in the long hallway which connected all of the upstairs rooms, deciding to wake the others. This idea, however, came to nothing. All of them were already awake, and looking quite nervous as they strode silently along the hallway to meet him. Another rustle accompanied the motion. This time from just inside his bedroom door.

"Have you seen anything?" Ben asked the three of them, quietly.

"No." Replied his father. "Just sounds. I don't like to think about it, but it's like they're following us around. Have you seen outside?"

"Yea." He said. "Made a pretty good guess at what's causing it too."

"What is it?" He asked, slightly shakily.

"They're called the Kryl. And strictly speaking, they're not really alive." Ben said, darkly. "At least not in the normal sense. I thought I heard them earlier too, before all this fog rolled in. If you do happen to catch a glimpse of one, try not to look at it.

"Why? What happens if we look at them?" Asked his younger brother, Will.

"Just trust me, don't. It won't attack or anything on first sigt, but look at it for long enough, and you'd better be the most fearless person in the world. We've probably all been feeling a powerful sense of fear all night, but its just sunk in now they've arrived. Its how they capture their victims. Scare them to death so they're afraid to move and then reel 'em in. They like to create illusions. Really horrifying stuff. You'll need to be on the look-out, ok?"

"OK." Will agreed, as his father once again began to speak.

"What could they possibly want from us?." He asked, approaching the stairs.

"Wait!" Ben desperately half shouted, half whispered to him. "These things aren't harmless! They're trying to catch up to us. They use periods of time when you're not concentrating on their presence to move, that's why you only hear them when you start to go about your business. If you lose concentration even for one second and they're near by…"

"I get it." Said his father, carefully making his way down the red carpeted steps to the hallway below. "But you still haven't answered my question."

"I don't know." Replied Ben. "The omnitrix, the modifiers, you name it. We'll have plenty of time to work it out."

Every step was a constant struggle to remain focused on the creatures which were most likely crowded into every area of darkness or shadow. It felt very strange to be running from a nemesis they could barely hear, let alone see.

At last, everyone had arrived in the tiled hall, Ben's father rushing to the icy front door, shuffling through his jacket pocket for house keys.

"So what do we do after we get out?" He asked. "I mean, we have the AG's, but that's about it. We never really had time to pack supplies, did we?."

"It'll have to do." Replied Ben, "And anyway, I've made quite a few improvements since we last used them…"

"Looks like we don't have much choice." Said his father, exasperatedly, as finally he withdrew a single, bent, yellow key from inside his trouser pocket. Forcing it into the door and turning it triumphantly. There was an unnerving crack as the key jammed in the lock…


	3. Close Encounters

Ben's father frantically rattled the damaged key in the lock, hoping for something to slide back into place. The fog outside, becoming more dense by the minute.

"It's completely stuck!" He shouted over the chorus of noise from the Kryl. "I can't even get the key back out!"

"No time!" Replied Ben. "Lets try the back door."

They crashed through the downstairs bedroom door, running to the back door which led out into the garden and trying desperately to get it open.

"Its no use!." Said Ben's father. "We're locked in.

"Damn it!". Sarah, I know we just had the house rebuilt, but we've got to get out some how. Sorry."

Breaking into a run, he left the kitchen. Seconds later, there was a bright flash of green light, followed by the sound of shattering glass and concrete which echoed through the entire building. The three family members in the kitchen followed. When they arrived at the porch, Will being the first to reach it, he found no porch, only a large gaping hole in the side of the house. The wall around it, so hot it was glowing.

"Come on!" Shouted Ben. "They're gaining on us!".

Eventually the rest of his family found their feet, starting to follow Ben out across the grass to the garage, where to old AG's stood, freshly painted, looking as they did the day they were built.

"Remind me again why we didn't use these before?" Asked Ben, sarcastically.

"Because someone could spot us?" Replied his father.

"Yea, but still, its better than driving…" Said Ben, climbing into the pilot seat of his own, redesigned AG. "Sorry I couldn't upgrade yours," He said, apologetically. "It took weeks just to rebuild one. While in the air, we'll have to communicate by radio. Its an open channel. To start the transceiver, tap the blue section on the panel beside the Plasma Injector controls.

"Never mind," Replied his father. "Like you said, its better than driving. Eh, provided the Kryl can't fly." He corrected himself.

Within a few minutes, Ben, Will, his mother Judy, and his father, John were on their way to the city, where they hoped they'd find Max. They watched as their recently reconstructed home faded to nothing, along with the presence of thousands of Kryl.

"Any word yet on Gwen?" Asked Ben hopefully, over the sound of the AG's engines. Although he hated to admit it, he really needed her help.

"Yes, actually." Replied John. "She's due to be back tomorrow night. Don't know what she'll do when she finds the house in it's current condition. Not to mention all the Kryl back there."

"She'll be fine." Replied Ben, in a reassuring manner. "I don't think she's looked up from that book of hers once in the past month."

As the AG craft ripped through the city, people occasionally looking up in mild curiosity of what was attacking next seemed confused. The sky was completely clear by the time they lifted their heads.

"You've all got your modifiers?" Asked Ben.

"Check." They said together.

"Great, someone send me one through the transport pod, I've got an idea."

Will watched with interest over the monitor, as Ben carefully engaged the AG's swarm logic, disassembled the modifier and set to work.

Within the hour, he had finished upgrading each of the Omni-modifiers, leaving the other members of his family stunned at how extensively his craft had been upgraded. They simply couldn't grasp the theory behind smart auto-pilot.

"Its all in the A.I." Said Ben proudly. "With a Mechnomorph, programming a sentient A.I. is as simple as pressing a button."


	4. Max

The ground shook, as all four AG's landed on a deserted street, somewhere in the darker part of the city.

"What are these like in a firefight?" Asked John, curiously as he climbed out of the cockpit of an AG. "I mean, I know they're fast, but still…"

"Depends on who you're fighting, and if you've got backup. " Replied Ben. "If you're a good pilot, there's pretty much no technology on earth that could stop you. Except for me of course. Against the Andraians, you'd more-or-less be in a fair fight."

"So, how could you stop them?" Said John. "If they're as powerful as you say, surely not even the Omnitrix could…"

"You're right." Ben interrupted. "But you've also got to take into account how long I've spent building and planning these ships. And after hours of discussing it with my computer through the Mechnomorph, we came up with a simple, yet effective solution; a remote neural interface, its hardwired right into the Main Drive Control unit and Self Destruct Systema. If anyone steals my AG's, I can either take control of their flight path, or just blow them away, and the system's non-invasive, so anyone can use it once their DNA code is programmed into it. So far, only six people in the world have access to it. You, Me, Mom, Will, Gwen, and Max.

"That's pure genius…" Replied John, startled by what he had just heard. "How close does it have to be to work?"

"Actually," Said Ben. "It run on a subspace frequency of six hundred and eighty three terahertz, so in theory at least, you could use it from anywhere within our galaxy."

"I'll have to take a look at these when all of this is over with. But what about the engines?" He asked. "What do they run on? I assume you're not talkin' gasoline here.."

"Its engines can propel someone to almost any speed. They run on zero point energy, so the only real power consumption comes from the EM Fusion Core. Without that system to cancel the craft's mass, you're limited to sub light speeds, but lets continue this conversation later, we've got to find Max and see what's happened to Gwen. She's the only one who can stop the Kryl."

"OK," Said John, handing out communication nodes. "Everyone put one on except Ben, the transceivers are neuro-electric. If one of you gets into trouble, we're all gonna know about it."

The four of them made their way to Max's home at the far side of the city, hoping he had not moved since they had last seen him three months ago. The streets were all but completely deserted, the side gardens, unkempt. A mixture of car fumes and the smell of lit fires filled the air, forming large grey clouds around them which slowly drifted upwards and then vanished into the moonlight. It wasn't long before they could see Max's home. It had suffered much damage to its outer walls from his days as a plumber, and one or two bloodstains. A small camera fitted to the doorway panned around, keeping their faces in sight as Ben reached for the doorbell and pressed it. A muffled buzz emanated from somewhere inside.

And for a moment they waited, hoping against hope that he was home. As it seemed their luck was about to run out, the sound of footsteps and a key being turned caused them to jump. A second later, the door had been opened so that there was a gap just wide enough for someone to see out of. Very cautiously, a voice asked

"Ben, what were you doing, the night you found the omnitrix, eleven months ago?"

"Um… Well, I was annoyed at having to spend my summer with you and Gwen, so I took a walk in the forest and spotted what looked like a meteor falling from the sky, didn't I?" Replied Ben.

Max seemed to be testing him, making sure he wasn't an impostor. He paused for a moment, considering what Ben had said. Eventually he pushed the door open, ushering them inside and closed it just as quickly.

"OK, lets start with why all of you are here?" Exclaimed Max incredulously. "I heard about the attack on your house by the Kryl. You should have fled to another country, why here? And what are those things that John and everyone else is wearing?" He added as a side-note.

"I'll explain later." Replied Ben. "Right now, we need to find Gwen so she can stop the Kryl. They don't usually attack people for no reason, someone must be controlling them to get to the omnitrix."

"I don't think so…" Said Max. "Very few people know about it, most have already tried. I wouldn't be surprised if they're after something else this time…"

He showed them to the living room, where everyone took a seat by the fire and began to discuss what had happened since they had last met.

They had apparently forgotten about the passage of time, as when they had finished speaking and Max started letting up the window blinds, they found the sun had already risen and it looked after midday. As the bright white light filled the room, they saw many features which were previously rendered invisible. The walls of the room, which they had originally thought to be covered by dark grey wallpaper were actually large steel bulk-heads. A terminal screen had replaced the table beside the sofa, and it looked as though this small house had taken quite a beating in such a short space of time. Outside the living room, an ancient-looking stairwell provided access to the room above. As it turned out, their time had been well spent. Apparently, Gwen had stopped by a few hours before Ben and his family arrived. She said she was on her way to their home to help Ben after she found out where the Kryl were going.

"So, where are you going to go?" Asked Max, as he entered the room. "You can't stay here, that's for sure, they'll find you in no time."

"Looks like we'll have to search for Gwen." Replied John. "And those Kryl are coming back after dark too, so that doesn't give us much time either."

"Well before you all set off, I've got a few things that might help out a lot." Said Max, leading everyone upstairs where a large duranium door with a keypad attached served to protect the contents of the rooms. He entered a long code, and said

"I am operative 07T, identify voice input."

A green light illuminated behind the door, followed by a series of loud, deep clicks. He pushed the door open and stepped inside.

"Take your pick." He exclaimed to the Tennyson's. "If its Kryl you're up against, take this:" He handed Ben a large black weapon with a silver finish.

"It's a De-ionising Electro Magnetic Oscillating Nanobeam." Explained Max. "D.E.M.O.N. for short. To use it, hold down the orange button on top to reveal Kryl presence and pull the red, illuminated trigger at the base to fire a wide-bean shot. If you need precision for a single stray Kryl, use the switch on the side to change to a narrow, concentrated beam. Simple enough.

"Its perfect." Replied Ben. "So this'll actually kill the Kryl?

"Oh, I'm afraid not." Said Max, slightly crestfallen. "It'll stun them for a few hours at a time, but the Kryl are slightly out of phase with our reality, its impossible to really kill something you can't touch. The D.E.M.O.Ns project a particle beam to bring them partially back into phase, but to bring them close enough to be eliminated completely, you'd need a power source greater than that of every planet in every star system in the galaxy put together."

Later than day, the Tennyson's set out to find Gwen. Evidently, this part of the city was not home to some of the most decent people you could meet, as the AG's had been given a fresh coating of "paint" overnight.

"Well, that's not good…" Said Will, approaching his A.G and examining the recent graffiti which had somehow been engraved on the left side.

"Not to worry." Said Ben, running his fingers along the thick scrapes in the rough duranium hull. "We can see about repairs later, but just in case, lets fly with the stealth system." He said, exasperatedly.

As all four of them began to climb aboard the AG's, a group of people could be seen approaching from the right corner of the street, directly behind them. They were laughing sycophantically at the job they had obviously finished only moments before everyone had arrived. Though satisfied at what they had achieved, none of the really seemed to know what it was that they had been spraying paint on. They didn't seem to be the most agreeable group of people either.

"Lets just get inside." Said John quietly "Its not like they'll be chasing us several thousand feet above the-"

His sentence was cut short at a rifle bullet shot past him, inches from his head.

"They're armed!" Shouted Ben, trying to decided whether to stay and fight, or flee. It was not the possible battle which worried him, rather the possibility of others finding how who he was.

"Come one, then." Said one of the thugs, threateningly. "Have a go. I'll make it quick!"

Right now Ben would really have loved to make him eat his words, along with several of the paint cans on the ground around him, however finally, his mind made up, he reluctantly closed the airlock on his AG and signalled for the rest of his family to do the same. As the AG's ion engine roared, he could see the six people below him on the ground looking up in awe, but at the same time trying not to be blown off their feet by the explosive reaction of practically frozen air rushing toward the ground.

"Umm… Lets go stealth." Said Ben, slightly anxiously. "The last thing we need right now is another news report about four flying saucers over the city."


	5. The Kryl

The bright blue sky above them slowly drained to orange, and eventually to black, with the last of the golden sun disappearing beyond the horizon. By this time they were in the process of scanning the ground areas around their former home, looking for any signs of movement or light. It was a tedious task to say the least, although that didn't stop the sudden rush of hope each time the proximity alarm sounded. Eventually, their efforts paid off. A large explosion of bright blue light erupted from an area around five hundred metres away. They could feel the heat and vibration even through the shields of the AG's. It ruffled the trees and lit up the ground like daylight.

"That's her!" Shouted Ben, gesturing to the source of the light, which now seemed to be moving towards them in waves. "Get a targeting lock on that area, don't lose her!"

As Ben manoeuvred his AG into landing position, he knew this was not going to be easy. Around her, closing in from every direction, were thousands of Kryl, and it was then realised that the bright light Gwen was generating was not to reveal her location, but an attempt to drive them away. He struggled frantically to come up with a plan of action, but knew there was only one way. Uncaring of the damage he was about to inflict on his humble vehicle, he gripped the flight stick, forcing the AG down. It plummeted towards the ground, through the trees, ripping downward at incredible speed, leaving massive tears and gashes in the hull, a trail of sparks behind it. Entire branches and power lines were dragged down with it. The Drive Plasma line jammed, exploded, and this set fire to the debris. For moments Ben was flying blindly, the cockpit windows covered in burning branches and leaves. With a massive crash, the crumpled, flaming AG hit the ground dramatically with the force of a large rocket, throwing up soil and rock into the air. Slightly dazed from the crash, Ben signalled for the other AGs to land safely and grabbed the weapon Max had given him. Breaking through the fused roof glass, he jumped from his crashed AG.

"Lets do this!" He yelled into the hordes of Kryl.

They seemed to sense the presence of another person, even though there was no possible way for them to have heard him. Ben ran at the horde, hitting as many as he could. Bolts of red light flew in all directions as he struggled to hold them away from Gwen, who he could just about make out several metres from of him. It wasn't enough, there were too many of them. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of these counterproductive thoughts, but as the Kryl became even more numerous, this became difficult.

"Gwen!" He shouted urgently. "Wake up! You've got to help me! There are too many!"

She didn't move. He thought that if he could at least distract them he could buy her some more time. That light Gwen had been creating; whatever it was, it had attracted the Kryl. It didn't seem as though the Omnitrix would be of much use to him here. And after this realisation came a sudden thought. Gripping the D.E.M.O.N tightly, he took notice of a large switch that Max had never explained to him.

"Its gotta be better than what happens if I don't." He thought to himself, pulling it back.

The weapon began to vibrate ominously, a green light intensifying at the tip. He threw it as far as he could, waiting for something to happen and hoping it would be something useful. He watched the Kryl. Some of them had given up their positions trying to reach Ben and Gwen, in pursuit of the light from the D.E.M.O.N. It was exactly what he needed. Rushing over to Gwen and trying to wake her, he knew that it would not be long before the device eventually expired. She seemed to be in a deep sleep. The glow from the D.E.M.O.N was beginning to die out and he had no backup plan. He continued in his attempts to wake Gwen, however this proved futile, she was completely unconscious. The light of his weapon flickered, and finally extinguished. Ben tried to get Gwen further away from the hordes of Kryl, but it was no good. He was becoming aware of just how cold the night air was. As the Kryl turned on him, closing fast, the moonlight on the trees and his smouldering AG in the background began to swim before his eyes. He could hear a loud rustling sound, whether because of the Kryl or merely a result of his current delirious condition he could not tell. He heard the voice of all of the Kryl together. They were saying

"Tennyson… We've been in search of you for a very long time. So you tell us? What must happen now?

It was a low, deathly voice. Almost inaudible, but with clear intent.

"How about this!" Cried three of the Tennyson's suddenly.

They seemed to have come out of no where. The remaining Kryl were hit with six bolts of energy at once. The two that were advancing on Ben and Gwen, blown back into a patch of forest as Will, his father, and his mother stormed through the diminishing crowds of Kryl towards the two cousins.

"You OK?" Asked John, firing on three Kryl trying to approach them from behind.

"Yes, I'll be fine" Said Ben. "Gwen was stuck with them for a bit longer, she should be OK too though."

"You seemed to just fall out of the sky." Said John, worriedly. "Did something go wrong with your AG?"

"No." Replied Ben, walking towards the wreck, placing his hand on what remained of the hull. It was still warm from the crash. He regretted what he was forced to do to his craft. It had served him well in the past years and he was sad to see it go the way it did. "Lets get out of here before the self destruct system opens up an inversion…"


	6. Gwen's Story

All four of the Tennyson's slowly crept back to the three remaining AG's. After a few moments, Gwen had regained consciousness and was finally able to recount what had happened since Ben had last met her…

"I was on my way to see Max a few days ago." She explained "When I heard about what happened with the Kryl back home, I knew that's where you'd be going so I waited there a while, but you didn't show up. I left for home to see if you'd gone back without realising I'd missed you by only a few hours. By the time I got there and found the house empty, it was nightfall and Kryl were all over the place like locusts. I knew you'd escaped because of that massive hole in the front porch but for one person, its very hard to get away from the Kryl. I managed to get as far as the garden next door, when they found out, they really began to get determined. I must have been there for hours trying to keep them away. By the time the four of you appeared overhead, I couldn't keep my concentration on the rift to hold them back. It collapsed, and… That's about it."

"But why didn't you just run for it?" Asked Ben, curiously. "They can't move unless you don't think about them, you could have backed away slowly and they couldn't have done a thing about it."

"I couldn't." She replied. "That works for one of them, not thousands, you only got out of the house alive because they needed the Omnitrix. And what happened to that ship thing you always used to fly? I saw a quite a bright flash before I blacked out."

"Its back there." Answered John. "I think something went wrong with it, caused it to crash." He gestured to the remains of Ben's AG.

"Thank you." Ben mouthed, silently.

"Well, whatever." Said Gwen, not having spotted this message. "But we really need to go now. In case you haven't noticed, we're standing in a load of knocked out Kryl."

"Not to mention the anti-matter powered space craft that's about to go nuclear right beside us!" Added Ben, backing away.

"Run!" Shouted John, activating his Modifier and giving the all go for the others to do the same.

As they began to gain some ground, the self destruct mechanism engaged, and emanating from the inside of the ship, right behind the pilot seat came a glowing red gas.

"What's that going to do?" Asked Gwen, apprehensively.

A second later, her question was answered as an immense dark blue hole seemed to rip through the very air around the AG. A dim light from within it began to intensify.

"It's a quantum singularity." Explained Ben, as though this piece of information would have a great impact on their thoughts. They simply stood completely still, watching it as though it were a television. No one even noticed that rocks and branches from near-by trees were disappearing into it, until with one last creak as it slid along the tall wet grass towards the singularity, the AG was gone. The hole began to enlarge, and it was as though the atmosphere around them was being blown into it. Finally - for barely a moment - it burned almost as brightly as the sun during day, and imploded, leaving no evidence it was ever there.

"I thought you said that wouldn't happen for hours." Said John, breathlessly. "You… You said just last night that it takes hours for the collider to access enough particles for a micro-wormhole to form."

"You're right." Said Ben in awe "It is impossible…"

"Could it have been the Kryl?" Asked Will curiously. "Maybe its just another of their effects?"

"No… I'm starting to think something else is at work here. And its not like we're hard to find, is it?"

"We'd better get back to the AG's before something else blows." Said John "Just barely made it out of this one alive as it is."

"Right" They replied, changing direction and heading for the three craft which - though some ingenious manoeuvring - had been landed right behind a huge, dark fern tree.

A variety of black outlines could be seen darting out of the way, as the four people walked briskly through the long grass which seemed to grow longer with every stride. Finally, John pulled several large branches out of the way, revealing all three AG's, green-stained, but otherwise in undamaged.

"Come on." Said John, climbing aboard his own. He apparently didn't was to start the Fusion Core until everyone was ready to go. "I want to keep the Kryl away for as long as I can" Was his reasoning for this, though Ben had doubts about the Kryl's ability to hear.

When - at last - everyone was ready and waiting, three AG's launched simultaneously into the night sky. Dawn was fast approaching, and it was their only protection from an unseen enemy.


	7. The Outpost

Chapter 6 - The Outpost

The first rays of daylight were slowly creeping up from the horizon, and the Tennysons had arrived at their destination. Somewhere in the middle of the Sonora desert was Outpost Seven Alpha, a resource and observation post for the Plumbers. Since Ben and his family never had the time to put supplies on stand-by, this would have to be their next stop. The outpost was staffed at all times, with at least twenty-five Plumbers there around the clock. The immense, multi-storey structure held a database of every exomorphic species encountered in the last century and thus was kept under heavy guard.

Disengaging the engines and bringing the anti-gravity drive online, Ben manoeuvred his craft into a landing position, finally touching down. Climbing out of the cockpit and onto the dry, warm ground, he watched the others' slow but stable landings. Dust was blown through the air in spirals, underneath the large vehicles. Each pilot in turn climbed from their craft and took a Modifier with them.

"We should all take communicators too, just in case." Suggested John. "Last thing we need right now is getting separated again."

"Pass." Said Gwen. "The chances are we're going to need them later. And besides, part Anadite here. Just give me the frequency you're using and we can keep one here as a backup."

"Good idea," Replied Sarah, collecting the communicator from Gwen and placing it securely in one of the AG's compartments."

Will began locking up each craft, finally returning to the group and placing his Modifier on his wrist.

At last, with all of the Tennysons ready and waiting, Ben began staring intently at an area directly ahead. He walked forward, arms extended as though trying to feel around for a non-existent wall. This was to the apparent complete bewilderment of his family and Gwen, who merely observed him curiously.

"Um. What are you…" Began Gwen, but she trailed off as her question was answered in the form of several loud, echoing knocks.

"Found it!" Exclaimed Ben, cheerily. "I was afraid we'd have to spend hours looking for it… Seems like we landed in just the right area. Lucky we didn't run into it actually."

"Run into what?" Asked John. "All I see is desert for dozens of miles. You sure the heat's not getting to you?"

"Shhh, listen!" Replied Ben, impatiently.

He raised his hand once more and begin swiping at the air, except it wasn't air. There was a series of even loader clangs as his hand struck the cloaked door of Outpost 37A. Understanding suddenly washed over his family. They rushed up to the door, with Will almost knocking himself over as he walked into it.

"Great, so… How do we get in?" Asked Gwen. This was the million dollar question. "I don't suppose there's a knocker."

"Nope." Said Ben. "Looks like we'll have let ourselves in the old fashioned way."

There was a dazzling flash of green light as Ben activated the Omnitrix.

"Pyronite." Announced Ben. "Or as I used to call him... Heatblast!"

He stepped a few yards back, away from the door, building a ball of fire between his hands and gesturing for his family to stand back. After several seconds, when Ben felt the heat from the fireball had reached it's peak, he released it, hoping for the best.  
It flew through the air, hitting the cloaked door with enormous explosive force. For a moment, the debris highlighted a large, metallic structure, with no visible windows.

"No good." Said Ben. "Lets give it another go."

This time, the reinforced door was ripped violently from it's mount and landed in a smouldering heap on the floor inside. Ben returned to Human form and waited for his family to catch up.

"Nice job." Said Gwen, sycophantically. "Maybe next time you'll manage to level the whole building."

Ben ignored this comment, with a slightly red face. A freezing draft seemed to be blowing through the open entrance-way. It was nice to have a cool breeze after all this time in the scorching desert, but felt in a way unsettling.  
Checking ahead cautiously, the Tennysons stepped through the opening.

The smoke emanating from the destroyed door limited their field of view, but one thing one clear. Something was very wrong. The entire building was absolutely silent, and all of the lights were out. In front, there was what appeared to be a large, interconnecting hallway with many rooms. It felt as though the outpost had not been used in decades, even though Ben himself had been there little over a month ago.

"Come on." Ben said in a low voice. "The control room's this way. Wonder why they left..."

Widthdrawing a small flashlight from his pocket, he proceeded deeper inside. Every tiny sound seemed to be mangified a thousand times. A faint flickering light could be seen up ahead.

"That must be it." Said John. "I don't like the looks of this."

"Me neither. This place should be full of people" Replied Ben, entering the room.

Their worst fears were confirmed the moment they stepped inside. The building's inhabitants had never left at all. They were all still here. Gwen looked up in horror at what had transpired only hours ago.

"Wh... What happened here?" She asked.

"I don't know." Said Ben. "But it looks like they didn't go down without a fight."

Whatever had happened, the Plumbers had stood their ground. From the look of it, they died at their stations. The peculiar thing, was that some of them seemed completely unharmed, while others had been gruesomely ripped apart. The floor was covered with what appeared to be a mixture of weapons debris and blood. The air, filled with dust.

"Lets check their last log." He said, stepping over the dozens of bodies to the main computer and searching the most recent recordings. "They must have left some sort of message..."

"Ben. Isn't this where your friend, Devoras was stationed?" Asked Gwen.

Ben simply turned and nodded silently. Resourceful as Devoras may be, he was still concerned for him. The monitor behind Ben abruptly activated, startling everyone. A video message began to play.

"This is a warning to all near by A. I. F teams; we are under heavy attack by an unknown enemy. All communication attempts have failed, and we are rapidly losing personell."

Distorted though the image may have been, behind the officer one could clearly see the destruction taking it's toll. Several large creatures had broken through defences and were slashing at anyone in their path, while many people appeared to be collapsing for no apparent reason.

"We are in urgent need of assistance. I'm not sure how much longer we can hold out!"

The image became nothing but random distortion, and a loud shriek sounded. So intense it felt as if it were tearing at the viewer's insides, then complete silence.

No one could bring themselves to speak. The full impact of the situation had just hit them. Finally, ben broke the silence.

"That was Devoras..." Ben said, seemingly stunned. "I can't believe it."

"Don't lose all hope yet." Replied John. "None of these bodies is Kineishan. I'd say there's a fair chance he got away."

"You're right," Gwen said. "Lets just find the supplies we need and go. There's no reason to stay here any-"

Gwen's sentence was cut short by movement from a dark corner of the control room. A vaguely humanoid figure emerged. It seemed to be examining their appearance, as if trying to decide if they were some sort of illusion.

"Wait a minute." Exclaimed Ben, excitedly. "I know that form. Devoras... is that you? Will, find a light switch."

The figure did not speak, although it did move slightly closer to the group. Just close enough to see it was injured. Badly.

"Ben. You've got to get out of here, now. You have no idea the danger you're putting yourself in. Stay silent until you leave the building."

Will returned to their side, something was going on that he did not understand.

"Dad. The lights aren't working." He said.

"What? Interjected Ben sharply. "Are you sure? This place has a self-contained power source."

"Yea', I'm sure." He said, walking over to the environmental controls and touching several panels. "Primary illumination... Offline. Secondary illumination... Offline."

"Dad, he's right." Said Ben. "We've got to go, now. I'll grab a few supplies, you help Devoras"

"Got it." John replied. "We'll wait for you by the AG's."

While the others began picking up anything they left behind, Ben ventured further into the control room. Technology and ammunition was always stored right at the back. Moving several bodies aside, he pulled open a large storage area and started to extragate a few heavy, black crates. Ben noticed a small piece of paper pinned to the top of the cabinet. A note. It was not in English either. He removed it from it's mount and placed it in his pocket.

"I'm going to need Fourarms to carry all this." He thought to himself, activating the Omnitrix.

Back outside, Devoras was beginning to recover with the help of a tissue regenerator. Ben emerged from the darkened entrance and placed one crate in front of each craft.

"This should keep us going for a while." He said. "Devoras, what happened in there?"


	8. Survivor

**Chapter 7 - Survivor**

John carefully helped Devoras over the rough ground and into the rear passenger seat of Concorde. He was badly injured, but it looked as though he would recover with time. Ben was very concerned for his old friend's condition, but even that would not disperse the vast number of questions he needed answered. Will, who had never seen Devoras before gave a slight start as the Kineishan passed by. In the bright daylight, he was just barely Humanoid in appearance, with greyish skin, short silver hair and an overall physiology which looked slightly similar in build to the Kinecelerans. Their home-worlds were apparently in the same star system.

By the time Sarah had emerged from the darkness of the deserted outpost building carrying several log recording units, anything which may be needed at some point in the future was packed and ready.

"Dev." Said Ben approaching the left side of the chrome AG which he was sitting in. "You alright? I don't know how you got out of that attack alive. Everyone else, well…"

" I know alright." He said, slightly dazed however determined to stand up regardless. "But I still don't understand why. Everything seemed to kind of just… Miss me by inches. Not that I'm not glad to be out of there in one piece of course, but it was really disturbing to just watch it happen."

"But what exactly did happen? And why?" Asked Ben, curiosity mounting. "From that message you left us, about all we could make out were a couple of large creatures slashing at officers and others just randomly dropping dead all over the place."

"Well…" Began Devoras, taking a deep breath. "Last night, we spotted about twenty suspicious-looking aircraft doing flyovers every hour or so. They didn't seem to have any hostile intent at that point though… Johnson gave orders for them to be followed, so we did. Everything seemed fine right until we got up close, a few feet from their hull. It was like we triggered some kind of automatic defence mechanism against capture. All twenty ships locked on to us, fired one small energy charge each and seemed to just phase out."

"Did you find out anything about them?" Asked Ben, now beginning to pace between the AG and the outpost door.

"Yes." Said Devoras certainly. "They weren't manned and they definitely weren't real."

"Uh… Define 'not real'." He said.

"We fired several times before they took us down. Every shot missed. Sam even tried ramming them but hit nothing. Turns out it was just a diversion to get us away from the base. When I returned, we were facing a full-scale assault. I managed to record that warning before…" He broke off, thinking over what had happened so quickly. "All those people. Many of whom I've known for years…"

Ben had heard all he needed.

"OK." He said aloud, addressing the group. The understanding of what had happened seemed to stir him into action. "It looks like we're dealing with something that doesn't want us to know anything about what it's doing or what it's goals are. And judging by what's happened here, we've got to assume the worst."

"Do you mean-" Began Will, but his question was cut short.

"Yes." Said Ben firmly as he walked over to Nova. "I'm willing to bet we're about to face something big. Dev, we need you to contact the other outposts. Get any scrap of info you can about what's going on. We might not have long to get ready for whatever's coming our way."

"In that case" Said John "We'd better get going. Whatever it is has probably tracked here by now… "

He began extracting packages from the pilot seat of his craft, about to climb in.

"No, Dad." Replied Ben. "I think we should leave Defiant and Concorde here this time. Just take Nova. There are enough seats for all of us, and the we need go unnoticed. One large AG will draw less attention that three small ones."

"OK." Said John, slightly downhearted, but in favour of the idea. "What do we do with the other two then?"

"Why not leave them here?" Asked Devoras, weakly. "There's a hangar on the top floor."

"Good idea." Ben replied. "Come then, lets move."


	9. A Hollow Victory

**Chapter 8 - A Hollow Victory**

After many hours of silent com channels, of meaningless distortion, and misleading information, Devoras had gathered an idea of the current situation by the time they had all returned to the deserted outpost. And it was grim. The Arconians were preparing to strike. This particular race was extremely advanced both technologically and biologically, having faster-than-light propulsion before Humans had even invented the wheel. Though not openly hostile, they did possess a certain arrogant attitude toward less advanced cultures. Something must have sparked them off. Although Devoras' theory was as good as any, Ben did not like the idea that the Earth had become too noticeable for it's own good. Millions of high frequency broadcasts and organisations looking for extra-terrestrial intelligence every second of every day. It was bound to get someone's attention someday, and it looked as though that day had finally come.

Using data acquired from 37A, the Tennysons had discovered that an Arconian scout vessel would be making a landing in the area that night. Either to gather supplies or search for additional survivors of the earlier attack on the outpost, none of them knew. One thing was a certainty, however. The Tennysons were no closer to understanding what was taking place, and it was all they could to demand some small truth from an unsuspecting enemy. The vessel was supposed to have arrived almost two hours ago, and the Tennysons had found themselves stealthy positions among the few dying trees and large rocks around the outpost. Each carried a photon rifle and a ten second variable Anexenadyne grenade. Ben waited on the opposite side of the outpost as an Ectonurite, occasionally drifting between the front and side of the building. They had spent the entire day preparing for every possible contingency, including the unlikely event that the ship would not land. For this purpose, a charge cannon had been carefully and inconspicuously mounted on top of the outpost tower, within the cloaking field limits to prevent being spotted even by the keenest of sensors.

"How long does he expect us to just wait around like this?" Whispered Will, with a mixture of tiredness and boredom in his voice.

"As long as it takes, I guess." John turned to face his younger son and shrugged. He was also showing the unmistakable signs of great tiredness, not having slept in almost three days, though not deterred in the slightest from his 'duty'. "Make sure you keep well behind that rock. If they see us, we're in deep trouble."

Bringing up the rear of the group, were Devoras and Sarah, both exceedingly anxious as they waited for the small spacecraft which should have landed hours ago. Approaching danger aside, there was also the matter of temperature. It was getting bitterly cold outside as the sky began fading to a deep, starry black. The moon was half full and cast a soft silvery glow on the one remaining AG craft.

"Dev." Said Ben in a low, rasping voice. No one responded. "Dev. Hello?"

"Oh… Sorry." Devoras replied, as he looked up from the aged photon rifle. "Didn't hear you. What is it?"

"I've been giving this whole hostile alien invasion deal some thought…" Ben said. "I think I've figured at least part of it out. I mean, like you said, the Arconians have been keeping an eye on us for centuries. Why would it bother them now just because the Earth has become more visible? They know we're here, why not attack a few hundred years ago when we were completely defenceless?"

Devoras paused to consider him for a moment, temporarily averting his eyes to stare blankly into space. It was a very logical argument, but Devoras already knew the real reason for this attack. That reason happened to be not only partially valid, but also extremely insulting not only towards his friend, but towards their entire race. Devoras did not want to risk his friendship with Ben over such a theory. This was an ethical dilemma, however, which he knew would be resolved with Ben's next words.

"Why didn't you just say so from the start?" Ben said, with a slight air of impatience. "It's so obvious. How could I not see it. This invasion… It's almost like… like they're punishing us for-"

"Look!" Cried John, cutting Ben off. "Just there!"

He pointed to an immense ripple in the air forming directly above. It was the scout ship at last. About to touch down, it decloaked and extended landing struts.

"Get ready, everyone." Ben yelled, his voice barely audible over the roar of the incoming ship's landing thrusters. "Don't fall behind. We must bring every single one down. Don't give them the chance to shout for help, and make sure their captain doesn't hear anything."

There was an uncharacteristically devious tone in Ben's voice. They had all heard it before from this form, and it was not at all reassuring.

The ground shuddered as the Arconian vessel landed heavily, it's engines blowing sand and gravel through the air in torrents. A couple of dead trees were ripped from their roots and collided with the invisible outpost wall. After a few seconds of inactivity, a large bay door opened on the left side of the craft and around fifteen shadowed figures trouped out. Waiting for just the right moment, John silently grabbed the small grenade which lay next to him, pulled the pin, and threw it expertly into the vicinity. It landed silently directly in front of the bay door, tumbling for a few yards and coming to a halt at the feet of one unsuspecting crew member. A dim blue light appeared on the small device and he began counting to ten seconds.

John swore angrily under his breath, wishing he had set a much shorter fuse. It was too late for that now.

"OK, everyone." Whispered John harshly. He spared a quick glance for each of the group, wanting to ensure there would be no mistake in what they had to do. "Throw! Try to surround the entire crew with them if you can. Some of them are bound to escape before they take effect, so be ready with the rifles."

There was a chorus of dull whistles and thuds as a hailstorm of grenades flew through the air and landed at intervals around the Arconian crew. John's grenade, thrown a few seconds before the others was the first to go off. A loud crack sounded, followed closely by many others. Less than a second later, the ground where the crew stood was completely engulfed in a think, red mist-like substance. Three quarters of the troupe collapsed and remained motionless, while a small group of others had managed to avoid the poisonous, and now lethally concentrated gas. They broke away from their group, searching hesitantly for cover.

"Take aim." Devoras said telepathically. His tone was very grim. The Tennysons nodded and softly mounted their rifles on the rock bed in front of them. "Do not miss a single shot."

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This chapter was updated on 12/12/08. One down, another few to go. Whether you have or have not read this chapter before, it may be worth another quick read-through now.

Please review! Reviews really help the writer to decide on a certain style and stick with it :).


	10. The Hidden Nemesis

As they waited for a clear firing path, three surviving troupes emerged from the rear of the craft. Devoras charged his weapon, and the others followed suit. At once, the silence and darkness was broken when several powerful photon charges were fired. The six pulses of energy soared through the air at extremely high speed hitting what remained of the Arconian crew, who were blasted from their defensive positions, and flung out of sight behind the ship.

"Was that the last of them?" Sarah called, still very weary of their predicament.

"No. There's one more inside." Gwen replied. "Ben, go take him out."

Giving not a word of acknowledgement, Ben swept across the scorched earth and into the craft. For a few moments noise of the trouper's scrambling around, it sounded to the group outside as though he may actually have been defending himself. And as the noise echoed even louder, they became somewhat concerned that something may be wrong. These concerns, however, were quickly dismissed when the sound of a bone chilling crack filled the air and all suddenly became very silent.

John left his position, stumbling to the front of the group to find Devoras.

"It's dead?" John asked, uncertainty in his expression.

"Yes." Replied Devoras as he stood up to face John. "There is no substantial life inside the vessel other than Ben and their captain. He remains oblivious to his crew's execution."

"Great. Let's move in then." John said.

They gathered their equipment and cautiously started towards the craft. Gwen cast some light to avoid tripping over debris, deciding to walk ahead of the group to provide defence. Ben appeared beside the entrance hatch.

"Tread lightly in there." Ben said in a chilling voice, addressing the group. "You wouldn't believe how loud the echo…"

"Oh, we heard alright." Gwen said, cutting him off. She shot him a look of utter contempt and continued on her way, muttering something about unnecessary use of force under her breath."

Slightly pink-faced, though it was difficult to recognise from his present appearance, Ben deactivated the Omnitrix with a red flash of light.

"Point taken." He called over to Gwen. She looked back and smirked.

"That's got to be your shortest argument ever, you know" Gwen replied, and almost gagged as she absent-mindedly tread on the body of a recently deceased Arconian soldier. Ben sniggered as she instinctively used her abilities to throw the corpse out of the open hatch.

"Come on, Gwen." Sarah said, moving up beside her. "There's no one here but the captain, just relax."

"I know that." Gwen grumbled, crossly. "I just wasn't expecting to walk into a dead alien…"

The interior of the craft was extremely unusual in design. It gave the constant impression of standing inside an immense cave. The gloss textured, brown walls sloped downwards slowly from a gently glowing diamond-like ceiling. They were riddled with conduits and vents, bearing the unmistakable signs of great age. Dozens of hallways attached to each wall, a few even built into the floor. These specific corridors, as John could only guess, had some form of energy based shield blocking them to prevent the crew from falling in when the ship was not in a zero gravity environment.

Striding deeper into ship, Devoras was able to pinpoint the position of their target. The Arconian captain, unaware of the fate of his crew, was in the engineering sector. It was a mere ten feet down the nearest hallway, but John did not seem so keen on entering unarmed. He placed his hand on Devoras' shoulder to capture his attention, and handed him a rifle. Even without weapons, Arconians could be very worthy adversaries if necessary.

Ben was the first to step into the engineering post, a warm room with faint lava-like light leaking in from somewhere in the background. He could just about make out a dark figure on the opposite end of a large anti-matter reactor. It had not seen him enter.

"Gwen, Devoras, you're with me." Ben whispered to them quickly. "Sarah, John, you stay back there to provide us with cover-fire if we need it. I really don't know how difficult this is going to be."

Gwen and Devoras followed Ben into the room, keeping low behind the reactor. They needed to stay out of sight until they reached a suitable position from which to capture their goal.

"Ready?" Said Ben. "I'll get up behind him. If there's any trouble, you'll be waiting behind the reactor to help."

Without waiting for their responses, he quietly stood up behind the Arconian, grabbing his left arm and holding his wrists together. For a moment, he seemed completely bewildered. That is, until he managed to catch a glimpse of his captor.

"Don't move and you won't be harmed!" Ben yelled furiously at the violently struggling Arconian. "I have backup standing by if you try to escape."

After a half-hearted attempt to break away, the captain finally stood still.

"Release me, immediately!" He yelled, glaring maliciously at Ben. "What do you want with me?!"

"Lets see…" Ben retorted sarcastically, a definite note of rage in his voice. "Where should I start!? Why are hordes of Kryl killing the entire Plumbers' organisation? Why are the Arconians about to wipe out our entire race? And why the _hell_ did you come here tonight?"

At this, the captain seized the moment and abruptly regained his arrogant posture. Forcing Ben away, he stood fully upright and said gently.

"You really don't know? I would have thought our reasons quite clear."

"Try me." Ben replied through gritted teeth.

"But why ask me when there is one among you here already who has the answers?" He said, sneering at them. "You, Kineishan. You know _exactly_ why all this is happening, don't you."

Devoras didn't say a word, but just stood there silently, staring at the floor. Ben glanced at him, as if wondering what to tell him.

"You are not willing to tell your friend the reasons behind his own extinction? Very well." Arconian said flatly. He turned back to Ben. "As you are probably already aware, Tennyson, we have been observing your culture's growth for quite some time. You will be quite interested to hear our summary of your species."

"By all means." Replied Ben, cynically.

"You are an impulsive, violent, unpredictable, and savage race." the captain said aloud. From his tone, it was clear that he was thoroughly enjoying this. "From the moment when we first began our observations up to now, you have shown no motivation to change, and no regret for your actions. Even in the past century, you have slaughtered hundreds of millions of your own people without hesitation. And now you are beginning to reach into space, spreading yourselves, and your primitive nature to other worlds. That is something which we simply cannot permit to happen. Your species is a disgrace, and does not deserve to survive."

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This chapter was updated to 12/12/08. Well now, a major plot turning point, I believe. Granted I promised no more cliff-hangers before, but technically, this isn't a cliff-hanger.

Reviews are always appreciated and encouraged!


	11. Causality

**Chapter 10 - Causality**

"How long until your forces arrive?" Ben demanded.

"Nothing so crude." Replied the captain. "Our fleet will be dispatched tomorrow at noon. It will reach your star system approximately one hour later, by which time several bio weapons will have removed the oxygen and nitrogen from this planet's atmosphere and replaced it with a neurotoxin."

"And why are you telling us this?" Ben asked, silently wondering why every enemy felt it necessary for him to know their plans of mass destruction.

"Because…" Said the Arconian, thoughtfully. "You are going to find out anyway as soon as you read our database. On top of which, while you have been standing here, threatening death, I have configured this vessel to self destruct. If the Kryl didn't kill you, I suppose the honour should fall to me. Saviour of the galaxy from a destructive culture. I would rather appreciate that title. Only about five seconds to go by now…"

"Unfortunately for you," Sarah shouted, rushing over to join the others. "We planned for that move."

"Really…" Replied the captain, airily. He bent forward to read a text display. "In any case, it does not matter. The causality effect has already been set in motion, and you Tennyson, shall inevitably bring about the destruction of your own people."

The Arconian gave a small, unconvincing laugh at the idea.

"Causality effect?.." Muttered Ben. "What's a…"

But there was no time to wait for the being to reply.

Devoras withdrew the D.E.M.O.N weapon from a small silver case he had been carrying. He carefully placed it on top of the anti-matter reactor, turned it towards the entire group, and fired.

An ocean-blue beam erupted from it's tip, engulfing themselves and some of the floor panels. In that split second, detonation charges went off throughout the Arconian ship.

To the Tennysons, it was like being caught inside a silent dream-like bubble, separating them from the outside reality. All they could do was watch. A moment later, the dark engine room filled with smoke and flame. The luminous cyan shielding around the anti-matter reactor abruptly burned bright hot, shattering in it's place as the entire assembly exploded with the force of a dozen nuclear warheads. A storm of plasma coolant and flying debris rained down on the dissolving walls and floor, catalysing the destruction and obscuring everyone's vision beyond the confines of the blue energy field. The chaos lasted minutes although the tall form of the captain, dead or alive, was nowhere in sight.

When the last of the craft collapsed and relative safety was apparent, Devoras deactivated the beam with a quick and decisive glance toward the weapon. The bubble dimmed, faded, and dispersed. With the last of the dense smoke clearing, the star strewn night sky gradually became visible.

"Wow, that's really, really disorienting." Gwen said as she looked up, unsteady in the darkness. "What was it?"

"Well basically, I just used the same setting which pulls the Kryl into phase to push us out of phase." Devoras replied, also affected though to a lesser degree. "The dizziness is most likely a result of the rapid transition from a fluctuating reality to a static one when I deactivated it. It should wear off in a few minutes."

Ben was the first to clumsily step down from the small reflective platform left untouched by the explosion, though he did so somewhat absent-mindedly. He was still trying to digest the almost cryptic words of the Arconian captain.

"What did he mean?" Ben asked. "What's a causality effect?"

Ben gradually began to realise just how cold it became in the desert at night. He gave a small shiver as the icy wind hit him.

"It's kind of hard to explain…" Devoras said. "And it doesn't really make much sense either."

"Try." Ben replied, sounding more interested than he thought.

"Um, OK, think of it like this;" Devoras said. He faced Ben, struggling to find the right words. "Someone from a week into the future travels back through time to tell you that tomorrow, you are going to be responsible for the collapse of a building somewhere. You say no way, I won't let it happen, so you head into town to stop it. By trying to stop the building from collapsing, you actually _cause_ it to happen. What the person told you was actually the _echo_ of a self-rectifying paradox, so no matter what you do, the building will still collapse and you will still cause it, because it already happened from a non-linear point of view. Understand?"

"Uh… No, not really." Ben replied weakly. "What's a self-rectifying…"

"Forget about that." Devoras said, impatiently. "The point is, the captain told you what's going to happen. And I'm betting he got his information from someone else too, because he's definitely not from the future. For the moment, we have to assume that what's going to happen really _is _inevitable."

"What!?" Ben blurted out, clearly outraged that Devoras was just going to accept the death of the entire Human race as a bit of bad luck. "I'm not going to let it happen. There must be something. Tie me to a lead weight, a lamp post, how I possibly be responsible for it then!"

"That's precisely my point." Devoras said, trying desperately to make Ben understand. "We do not know. For all we know, by doing nothing you cause it. If that Arconian did get his knowledge from another source, then all of this has already happened in the future. Don't you get it? If it didn't happen already, then he couldn't have been told about it in the first place."

Ben took a seat on the edge of the floor panelling. He had to admit, Devoras' theories did fit together perfectly.

"No point in asking how you know all this stuff, is there?" Ben asked.

"Em… Sometime in preschool, I think." Devoras said simply.

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This chapter was updated on 12/12/08. OK, so not a massive change to this chapter. I didn't really feel it necessary.

Please review!


	12. Dawn

**Chapter 11 - Dawn**

It was nearing dawn. The harshness of the night sky was becoming more obscure. In the distance, a faint golden tint was taking hold on the horizon, amidst almost total stillness. Not having slept in days, yet still wary of their situation, the Tennysons were resting for the immanent storm. Two people stood outside the outpost at all times to keep watch. They took shifts every hour or-so to stay alert. To the pair sitting outside watching the beginnings of sunrise, it was more of a warning than a sign of the coming day. In a matter of hours, the Arconian fleet would be dispatched to arrive in a lifeless solar system.

One of the watchers, Devoras, entered the outpost and quietly made his way to the only undamaged and Kryl-free room in the building; the hangar. Here several tents had been haphazardly assembled for the remainder of the night. The room was extremely large, with a panelled ceiling which sloped gradually from the back, down to the launch doors, and two levels connected by stairways. Wanting to ensure everyone was awake and alert, Devoras stepped inside a small control booth at the top of the room, and opened the bay doors. The orange light of the early sun washed over the entire room, revealing many previously darkened areas. He then casually unlocked the computer encryption sequences and pressed the large, yellow launch alarm button. The resulting noise of the siren was enough to be heard throughout the outpost.

It was quite a bit louder than he had expected, but it did the job. Possibly too well.

"Turn that damned thing off!" John shouted a minute or so later, coming around the corner at top speed. He had remained outside, but the sound of the alarm was apparently carrying for miles. "They've already been up for an hour!"

Either Devoras simply could not hear him over the intense noise, or was deliberately ignoring his shouts of rage which were rapidly doubling in both volume and profanity.

"What?!" Devoras called back, seemingly confused.

"Turn. It. Off!" John replied, pausing after each word to ensure he was not misunderstood.

"Oh, OK!" Devoras said.

He disabled the alarm at the flick of a switch and turned to look John in the face, trying desperately to hide his ecstatically satisfied expression. In the last couple of hours, it was almost as though the very air had become charged with electricity. By now, Devoras was willing to accept anything which brought with it the promise of lightening the situation.

"What the hell was that all about?" John asked, ears still ringing from the eruption of sound.

"Just… Making sure everyone's alert and ready." Devoras said. His expression alone was one of someone who had just made up the statement on the spot. His indifferent tone of voice was the only thing that saved him. Ben or Gwen would have betrayed themselves almost immediately.

"But why did you… Never mind, we need to get the AG's ready. Gwen got an alert a few minutes ago about some large objects on course for the Atlantic. We're guessing they're the bio weapons. Ben's already started building a new AG. Exceeder mark seven as he decided to call it. It won't be ready for a few days, so he's going to take Defiant. Your AG is already here, right?"

He took a few steps forward.

"Um… Yes, I believe so." Devoras replied, slightly disconcerted. "And it's not an AG."

"Great. We'll need to leave in the next half hour to make it to the interception point." John said. He turned to leave, but a question had been bothering him ever since they first encountered the Arconian Captain.

"What will the Arconians do with Earth once the atmosphere has been ripped away? John asked, apprehensively. "Just leave it there, or…?"

"Probably." Devoras said. "They have no interest in subjugation."

He eagerly left the control room, moving down the stairs to his craft almost as fast as a Kineceleran.

"I'll have it ready to go in a few minutes." He said. "I don't know if your AG's will be able to keep up though, Kineishan propulsion technology is considerably more advanced than your matter-antimatter reactor cores.

"Wouldn't be so sure…" John replied slyly. "Ben says he's coming up with a completely new system for the mark seven. Trans-Spatial drive or something I think he called it. He says it'll break the infinite-velocity barrier. Of course, he was Upgrade at the time, so I doubt he has a clue now."

"Heh. I'll believe that when I see it." Devoras laughed. "It's an absolute logical impossibility. He was certainly quick to build another Exceeder though, don't you think?"

"Are you kidding?" John replied. "That mark six lasted him years. It's reactor was a gift from Tetrax. Even so, he doesn't want to fight from the confines of a ship this time. He says the Omnitrix was given to him to be used, and he wants to do just that."

"I agree." Devoras said, solemnly. "But tell him to make sure the mark seven is on-hand in case we need it."

"Will do. Anyway, I'd best go and see how Gwen's doing with Concorde" John said. "She's never flown an AG before. Crashed it five times already. Her Anadian side keeps frying the artificial intelligence for strange some reason."

A conspicuous rumble and crunch of metal on solid ground resonated clearly through the hangar.

"Better make that six times…" Devoras said inattentively to himself as he turned away and John left the room at a fast pace. A moment later, shouts of exasperation and annoyance were heard from the next floor.

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This chapter was updated on 12/12/08. A few changes to the dialogue and descriptions here and there. Nothing massive, but it does improve the overall feel. For those who may be wondering, I decided to break the suspense mood for this chapter and let it break the ice (among other things!).

Reviews appreciated as always!


	13. Dominance

**Chapter 12 - Dominance**

Six massive warhead-shaped devices powerfully, yet silently forced their way through the inhospitable vacuum of space, maintaining course with total disregard for whatever unfortunate vessel happened to get in their way. Not far behind, and making all six bio-missiles look like miniatures by comparison, lurked the resource vessel "Koirvente". The craft was barely manoeuvrable, though not defenceless in any sense of the word. With a crew compliment of over five hundred thousand, it was easily the largest ship in the fleet.

Just a few hundred million miles away, the Tennysons were ready. They were under instructions not to leave the planet's surface until Ben decided whether or not they would be able to destroy the bio-missiles. In either case, they would still be vulnerable to attack by Arconian forces. Ben himself was positioned in orbit on the far side of Earth. This would supposedly hide his energy signature from any unwanted attention, added the fact that he was piloting the mark seven. Pulled out of the component room at least a day early, it had practically no shields, but with trans-spatial drive and a devastating array of armaments, it was sure to be their best defence. The machine it's self was almost liquid in texture and flawless in design, a familiar symbol engraved on it's roof, and no visible engines. It was truly a unique piece of technology.

"I see them." Ben said into his microphone, breathing heavily. "Right ahead. Massive missile-shaped devices, about six of them I'd say. Heading in for a closer look."

Ben gradually increased the throttle of the mark seven. But no longer in possession of his former expertise during it's construction, he had not anticipated such an instantaneous response. The A.G. abruptly shot forwards. Ben was forced back into his seat as the craft built incredible momentum. By the time he shook himself and engaged breaking thrusters, the mark seven was mid-way entering the upper atmosphere. Hoping desperately that no one had noticed, he pulled out of the re-entry, once again stabilising the vehicle.

"What happened?" Gwen asked over the communication channel. "Are you alright? That didn't sound too good."

"Nothing," Ben replied sheepishly, somewhat embarrassed. "Just a little breaking-in exercise. I'm heading for the missiles now."

The small craft entered stealth and accelerated in the direction of the six weapons. He needed to be sure not to accidentally collide with these immense structures, as they would probably be keeping a keen eye for any sort of resistance.

At the point where he was due to pass through a shield layer, he braced for the immanent shock and disorientation. None came. The mark seven continued to silently drift further into the depths of the weapon. Ben could not shake the feeling that something was very wrong. The stars were no longer visible now, their sharp luminescence drowned by thick frozen clouds of dark vapour. A distant green glow from somewhere at the heart of the weapon, and the dim light of the Omnitrix were all which remained to guide him.

"Dev," Ben said over the com channel. "What powers these things?"

"Nothing too complex," Devoras replied. "Just a standard artificial singularity. They're gamma-leaking, so they're kept right at the core of the weapon, behind several miles of…"

Ben never heard the last of his transmission. Suddenly, the A.G completely powered down. Every system, every indicator, every light was extinguished. Apart from the faint illumination provided by the Omnitrix, he was sitting in complete silence and darkness. He could not see his own hand in front of his face. The distant glow of the weapon was gone. Ben merely waited, expecting something to happen at any moment. Could they have detected him entering the vicinity of their ship, he thought to himself. Could an armed guard be on their way to destroy him at this very moment. After several seconds thought, he decided enough was enough and tried to restore at least some level of power.

The instant Ben moved, he felt a slight rumble to his right, and the mark seven being gently pushed to the left. Something very large, and alive had just brushed past the A.G. He was certain of it. Ben froze, considering any number of possibilities for the creature which had just passed so very close. Surely, it was impossible for it to have seen him. The cloak system was mechanically driven, and it had been running when the power cut out. At the same time, Ben remembered that he was still moving. It couldn't be much further to the centre of the missile by now, and he had no way to slow down. Trying not to think about this unpleasant possibility, he swiftly began trying backup energy sources. With no success, Ben had only one remaining, feasible course of action. He placed his hand on the Omnitrix, turned the faceplate, and activated it…

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Sorry to leave everyone with such an annoyingly short chapter, and a cliff-hanger at that (I promise not to make a habit of it!). I haven't had very long in recent times to update the Nemesis fanfic, as I have been working on the movie version simultaneously. I am also running through the entire novel again, updating and adding many improvements here-and-there.

As always, please review!


	14. Minefield

**Chapter 13 - Minefield**

The weakening light of the Omnitrix flickered, and died. Ben could no longer see now, only wait as the small vessel glided gently through the bio-missile's enormous interior. He clumsily felt his way to the rear window and peered out, searching intently for any partially illuminated surface regardless of how small or insignificant, anything that might indicate his speed. At the same time, he felt the change of course when another creature brushed silently past the outer skin of the AG. The temperature within the mark seven must have dropped near freezing point by this time, and the oxygen content in the air falling dangerously low.

As Ben tried to climb back into his seat, a sudden jerk of the ship's motion meant he narrowly avoided being thrown forward into the front window, having clutched at the nearest secure surface a split second earlier. His first thought was a collision, but there had been no jarring clash of metal on metal, only a single, dull thud. He pulled himself from what he assumed to be the floor of the AG, standing up and trying desperately to see past the dark void beyond the window glass. He must know what was out there.

A moment later, all of the AG's systems seemed to spontaneously activate. Course control, trans-spatial engines, navigation, communication, all fully powered and standing by. The sudden rush of noise and light startled Ben. After his eyes adjusted to such a high level of illumination, he set about disabling all but the required systems and preparing to continue his journey, though with a certain air of insecurity. As he sat back into the pilot seat with a sigh of relief, the forward spotlights flared. Ben glanced out the cockpit window, and what the ship had collided with, now became clear. Wherever the mark seven had drifted to in its short, however blind voyage, his situation was now dire.

"That's… That's just not fair." Ben whispered faintly to himself, for throughout the entire chamber he had now entered, drifted hundreds of very familiar creatures.

Panicking, he found the controls for the forward spotlights, and hammered on the cut-off button. The reason he was still alive now had also become clear. On the way in, they must have mistook the mark seven to be merely a stray piece of lifeless debris. Ben wanted to ensure that would be the way it stayed. These creatures would attack anything which appeared to move independently. For several seconds, Ben found himself pondering what would happen if he tried engaging trans-spatial drive whilst still inside the missile. The resultant expansion of subspace should be more than enough to collapse the entire structure, though admittedly, probably himself and the mark seven in the process. One thought struck him; Gwen. He leaned forward to reach the com panel, found the correct frequency, and opened the channel.

"Can all of you still hear me OK?" Ben asked.

"A bit distorted, but you're coming through fine," Gwen replied, sounding concerned. "Has something gone wrong? You haven't said a word in almost ten minutes."

"Haven't been able to," Ben said. "Exceeder just went totally dead on me a while ago, and now I'm lost in the missile, in a chamber full of over-sized, ship-eating squids."

"In other words, yes. Something has gone wrong." Gwen said. "Give me a minute and I'll get a topographical view of that chamber. We're going to have to give you directions."

"Alright, but hurry." Ben replied. "And just in case someone down there messes this up, I found a way to destroy these bio-missiles. Just fire a high-yield burst through the bay I followed in, and it should end up at the core eventually."

"Yea, about that…" said a sly and irritatingly familiar voice. "Those missile are way too close by now. If we destroy them here, the neurotoxin stores will just be released and end up entering the atmosphere anyway. You've got to take control of them somehow, get them away from Earth."

Kevin had barely spoken for ten seconds, and already he had brought Ben's hopes crashing down around him. There was also the matter of how he had found the Tennysons in the first place, but this would have to wait.

"Aren't you forgetting Koirvente?" Ben replied incredulously. "You think it'll just sit there and eat some pop-corn while it watches!?"

"Tennyson, I'll deal with the resource carrier," Kevin warned. "you just concentrate on the bio-missiles."

"And just how do you plan to _deal_ with Koirvente?" Ben argued.

"Of all people, you should know I have my ways." Kevin replied.

Ben ignored this.

"Gwen," He said. "anything?"

"Yes." The voice of his cousin replied. "It looks like there's a long stretch of clear path up ahead of this chamber. If you can get there, it should put enough distance between you and the Sentinels for a short, high-power burn. I don't even know if the mark seven can do those kinds of manoeuvres though. You've got no traction at all there."

"What are the chances?" Ben asked, indecisively.

"Looks pretty much fifty, fifty." Gwen replied. "It's up to you, but whatever you do, do it quickly."

Ben paused for a moment. There really were only two choices. Take the chance of ramming head-on into a duranium wall, or wait for the Sentinels to finally realize he was here, at which point they would promptly tear the ship apart.

"How will I get over there in the first place?" Ben asked. "All I've got here is a trans-spatial engine. No actual propulsion."

"Should've thought of that when you built it then, shouldn't you?" Gwen retorted, serenely. "Use your imagination, then. There's got to be something."

Ben took a quick look around, but the more he searched, the more he doubted this would ever work. An old Modifier casing, a toolbox, spare anti-matter fuses… And a small Axenadyne hand-grenade.

"I've got a way out." Ben said, still questioning the sanity behind what he was about to do. "There's an old Axenadyne grenade in here…"

"That might help if you had some decent shields." Gwen replied.

"No time to work on them." Ben said. "I'm going to try detonating it right behind Exceeder. It should give me quite a kick forward, but I don't know how stable the trajectory will be. It's not exactly meant to push a ten-tonne spacecraft."

"You haven't really got much choice, I suppose." Gwen said.. "Alright then, you need to aim the AG to your left. About thirteen degrees should do it. Then pull the fuse and eject the grenade out the back. Try to get as much power to those shields as possible. Just one particle of that gas will kill instantly."

"Just a minute." Ben replied. "I haven't got much power to work with here…"

Ben hastily grabbed and wrenched out every last unused piece of equipment from the white navigation panel beneath the front window of the AG. It was with a slight hesitation that he made such extensive modifications to the AG. Not being in possession of any real idea what he was doing.

"Come on!" Kevin shouted. "Tennyson, you're running out of time!"

"Just about…" Ben replied, rerouting power from all of the systems he had just removed to the shields. "OK. Ready."

Hands shaking slightly under the sheer pressure of what he was doing, Ben withdrew the small grenade from the ceiling compartment. It pulsed slightly with ominous heat. He clutched it tightly, grabbed the pin, and pulled on it hard. A display on the side began counting down from five seconds. Much shorter than he had expected. At this moment, he realized that he had forgotten to check the ejection mechanism, hoping dearly that it was undamaged. He turned in his seat, ripped open the pod, forced in the grenade, and rammed it shut. He stood up to look out the rear window. It was out there now. The timer read one second remaining. Ben frantically leapt back into the pilot seat, strapped himself in, and grabbing hold of the flight-stick for extra support. The grenade, which had only a second ago been slowly revolving in the zero-gravity as it drifted away, emitted a brief, gold flash, and silently exploded. A rush of Axenadyne gas dispersed into every last crevice of the wall behind it, engulfing and killing several Sentinels in the process.

The mark seven was rocketed in the direction of the clear tunnel, spinning and ploughing through many horrific remains as it went. Ben was thrown in all directions as he struggled to hold onto the violently swerving AG. He was already half way there, if he could just hold on a little longer. The surviving Sentinels suddenly realized what was taking place. They charged towards the out-of-control craft, rapidly gaining ground. He could see the opening of the tunnel just ahead. It was barely wider the mark seven its self, but whether he wanted to or not, that's where he would be pushing through. Only about a dozen yards separated him from the perusing creatures now. Two fell back as the Axenadyne finally reached them, but one seemed absolutely determined. It pushed its self even closer to the AG, preparing to strike the rear of the craft. Ben braced himself for the impact, but a second later, the Sentinel was ripped apart as it collided with the entrance to the tunnel. At far side of the path, the stars were visible.

The AG maintained speed, but its course had been changed by mere inches, sending it crashing into the tunnel ceiling. There was a blinding eruption of red sparks, followed by a deafening crack from somewhere in the back of the AG, and the shields collapsed. The impact had straightened the AG's course just enough for Ben to reach the controls in partial safety. He brought the trans-spatial engines back online, took hold of the flight-stick once more, and hit the "Engage" control. Headed for another collision with the tunnel floor, the mark seven appeared to glow for a moment. It came to an immediate halt as the engine charged, and powerfully launched its self through the tunnel exit, out into space at unbelievable speeds.

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This chapter has been updated on 12/12/08.

I know, this has been a bit of a departure from the normal length, but I had a lot of small, yet relevant pieces of info to cram in there!

Please review. Let me know your opinion on the story. It's always nice to get some feedback. Reviews are always very much appreciated.


	15. Day One: It Begins

**Chapter 14 - Day One: It Begins**

Ben tried to pull himself back into a precarious sitting position after the abrupt rush of acceleration had subsided. He quickly glanced around, checking that both himself and his craft were still in one piece. It could have been a lot worse if he had taken any longer to get out of there. On the other hand, he now had no means of propulsion whatsoever.

It was only as he looked up at the front window for a split second that he took notice of a large sphere of flaring green energy moving slowly toward the mark seven, which was completely powerless to defend. There was no point in kidding himself. This was one hit which he would not be able to avoid. He abandoned his futile attempts at controlling the dead craft, instead resorting to gripping the sides of the seat tightly and holding his breath, waiting for the impact.

The flare seemed to take an hour to reach him. Its strange pulsing aura grew steadily brighter as it approached, soon to bathe the interior of the mark seven in an eerie though quite blinding shade of yellow and green. Then, without warning, it was as though several rifles had gone off at once inside the craft. The energy flare intensified, accelerated dramatically, and smashed head-on into the mark seven with an exponential explosive force. Ben could feel the hull of the small ship buckle and tear under the strain. The sheer energy of the impact meant that if he hadn't been hanging onto the seat for dear life, he would instantly have been thrown hard against the ceiling. The ship itself also had been knocked off course, now headed on a perilous route to the planet's upper atmosphere. He watched as the nebula-like flare of ionizing gas pieced the inner hull and began bleeding the atmosphere into space, but even there it did not die out. The solar flare in-miniature continued to intensify, almost as though it had somehow attached itself to the skin of the vehicle. If this how much damage a single shot could do to a powerful fighter-craft like Exceeder, he couldn't bare to think what several hundred like it would do to an entire world. Ben was now feeling the extreme levels of heat and radiation leaking into the ship like venom. He lurched forward, micro-sealer in hand, frantically attempting to close the inner hull breach before it reached the cockpit.

"Never… Again…" Ben muttered incoherently under his breath, which was becoming progressively louder as the cabin temperature began to reach oven-like conditions. He clicked the power switch on the tool, but a brief blue burst was all that happened. "Don't have time for this!" He shouted, shaking it vigorously. A small blue flame sputtered into life at the end of the tube. Not willing to wait for it to settle, he lowered it to a panel on the floor which was white hot, and looked seconds away from blowing out. About a minute later, he had sealed the breach, and the flare was only now beginning to die away.

When the vibration of the inner hull panels receded to a dull rumble, he raised his head slightly to stare back out at the bio-missile which had so ruthlessly attacked. His vision swam slightly with the after image of the deadly flare. In that moment, he froze on the spot, in absolute horror of what he had just seen. From the very same bio-missile, emanated three more flaring orbs. His moment of hesitation was interrupted, however, by a crackling and indistinct voice over the communication channel. Abandoning all conscious thought, he dived into the front of the mark seven and shuffled recklessly though mountains of shattered equipment to find the transmitter. After eventually picking up the small device, he held to his mouth, pressed the control, and yelled into it at the top of his voice.

"Kevin, can you hear me!" Ben called desperately "Three energy flares are headed right for me, and I'm dead in the water as it is! The mark seven can't take another of these hits! Come on guys, help me out!"

Ben clutched the small microphone even harder, hoping that by some miracle his old enemy might get at least enough of the message to understand, though also fearful that he might not want to listen. Ben was, after all, the reason why he had spent years in the void. Mere seconds remained by the time he got a reply. The most he could understand over the damaged com assembly was "Stay put. Turn seven away missiles."

Half considering how laughable this would be as the last thing he ever did, Ben grabbed the flight stick and tried to shift the angle of the tumbling ship just enough for his own inertia to do the rest. The chaotic motion of the stars beyond the cracked and melted glass caused an unpleasant sensation of nausea. The next word he heard over the com was "Omnitrix", but what good would that do when none of his choices could survive in a vacuum? Still confused, he made the best defensive choice which came to mind and engaged the "Omnitrix" with a bright flash of light.

Meanwhile, on the surface, Gwen and Kevin manned the outposts charge cannon. With the constant movement of the mark seven, it was turning out to be somewhat of a guessing game as to whether the charge meant for the three flares would hit on target, or convert the mark seven, along with its pilot to a mass of lifeless rubble.

"That's about the best I can do." Gwen finally announced, stepping back from the viewfinder to address Kevin. She hurried down the stairway to a lower platform and engaged a few controls.

"You'd better hope so." Kevin taunted in the background. "Just imagine what would happen if the aim was off by even one degree."

He drew a crude imitation in mid-air with his hands, showing a fist-shaped EP charge missing the flares by a ludicrously massive distance and ploughing into a palm-sized mark seven. Gwen merely rolled her eyes and turned her attention to the matter at hand, tapping the "Fire" button.

"Grow up." She deadpanned.

The real EP charge was immediately launched from the tip of the cannon, and disappeared into the cloudless early morning sky.

From inside the mark seven, Upgrade saw the EP charge soar past the small ship and encompass the three flares just in time. They were instantly shorted-out, no longer posing any serious threat. It was with a certain cautiousness that he watched the dark, objects drift harmlessly past the ship.

"N-Nice job, Gwen." Ben stammered weakly. "Now, do you think that'll work on those missiles?"

"All it does is fires electro-plasma bolts." Said Gwen. "Wouldn't do any real damage…… But it might knock out their sensors long enough for us all to get aboard unnoticed. Just wait right there, we're on the way."

"Don't worry," He thought half-heartedly to himself "I'm going nowhere with this wreck."

Little over ten minutes later, Gwen and Devoras arrived with Concorde and Defiant to salvage the unfortunate mark seven, which was now in a rapidly decaying orbit. The desperate escape attempt from the bio-missile had done more damage to his ship than one of the Sentinels ever could. By this time, however, a certain Mechnomorph had already conducted most of the major repairs. The impact of the first flare had not only shredded the outer hull to pieces, but also completely emptied the liquid oxygen stores, resulting in an atmosphere of which any major polluting corporation would be proud, and that only a Mechnomorph could breathe.

"You might want to hurry up down there." Ben suggested over the com. "I get the distinct impression that a timeout is just waiting to happen, and the air in here really doesn't make for an ideal holiday getaway if you catch my drift." He shifted his gaze to the rear window, which was now aimed in the direction of the two incoming vehicles.

"We're doing our best." Gwen snapped back. "You're the idiot who went and got himself trapped inside the missile in the first place. Just relax, shut up, and wait. I don't know how on earth you manage to pilot these things. They're insanely awkward to handle."

"Yes, of course!" Ben argued cynically. "It's the kind of acquired skill you pick up after slamming into the ground a few dozen times, isn't it?"

Gwen ignored this, though with the shadow of a smile on her face which she was thankful Ben could not see.

"We're coming up behind the mark seven now." She said. "Dev says we've only got a thirty minute window before the first missile is within firing range. If we're stopping it, we're stopping it now. I've got the cannon set for remote firing. I couldn't test it before I left, so we'll just have to hope it works. Hold on a minute..."

The two AG's glided gracefully up alongside the mark seven, each attaching a resource transfer arm to the brutally wounded Exceeder.


	16. 99 Red Balloons

**Chapter 15 - 99 Red Balloons**

"That'll have to do for now." Gwen said, over the distorted com channel. "Any more, and we won't have enough fuel left to make it back out."

She was about to engage breaking thrusters, when Ben suddenly reached a decision.

"We're not taking them with us, Gwen." He blurted out. "Not this time." Ben raised his head from a control panel he was working on, peering out the front windows at his cousin, who seemed quite taken aback by this rushed statement.

"What? " She asked, confused.

"No. I'm through depending on these things, this situation is just too dangerous take the risk." Ben replied seriously, then added "This time, the only defence I'm using is the one that's never failed me. You got any suits in that AG?"

Gwen hesitated for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "Uh, yes… Just a sec' and I'll send one over."

A moment later, one conditioned, high-mobility space suit emerged form the end of the transfer arm bay. Ben bent down, grabbed the suit, and began putting it on.

"You should do the same." Ben said, his voice muffled beneath the layers of material. "We have no chance of pulling this off alone. Give Max a call, explain what's going on. Tell him to round up anyone who might be of some help and get up here as soon as possible."

"Shouldn't we wait for-" Gwen began, but Ben interrupted.

"No time." He said. "Point of no return is in exactly one hour, thirty-six minutes. If we don't bring them down by then, we've lost it. All of it. I need you to work out a manual jump trajectory from here to the nearest missile. They know there are spacecraft out here. It should be much harder to pick up just one person."

"But what about stealth-mode? And one person, what do you mean?" Gwen asked, worried.

"Won't work." Ben replied, impatiently. "I'm going first. You and Dev follow once you've contacted Max. Got the trajectory and speed yet?"

"Fine. Your trajectory, um. It's…" Gwen said, becoming unusually stressed. "Oh never mind, I've sent it to your suit's HUD. You'd best get going then. Still, I was kind of looking forward to the flight experience..."

"If we ever get out of this mess, you can keep one of these." He said, grimly.

Ben leaned forward and ran a quick system integrity check on the suit. This time, he could not afford to have his own impatience destroy his only lifeline. He sifted through every last operating system, before doubling back on them. When all components appeared to be functioning correctly, he nodded to Gwen, cut off all power to the craft and disengaged atmospheric control.

"I'd like to see them detect it now." Ben muttered.

Finally, bracing himself for what must now be done, he carefully but decisively kicked out the right-side airlock with one attempt. The gravity plating creaked ominously under the strain. Ben tightly gripped the supports around the doorway, as what remained of the interior atmosphere surged out past him. It took only moments for what little pressure was left to leave the ship in a soundless rush of damaged fragments of technology and tools. Once the swarming mass of debris left the cabin, it continued on its journey, out into the darkness. Ben became aware that he was now standing in a total vacuum. It was much more eerie than he had ever expected. He could hear every breath, every heartbeat. It was very disturbing. Wrenching his thoughts from this unsettling feeling, he tried to focus on the task at hand. To perform a jump, he would need to be on the outside of the vessel, lest take the risk of missing the target. There was only one chance, and it had to go perfectly. He exerted a miniscule amount of pressure on the deck plating with his foot. Not used to a zero-gravity environment, he was propelled forwards through the opening in the hull at an alarming rate, heading in the same direction as the debris. With absolutely no time to spare, he managed to snatch at the exterior of the ship, just barely pulling himself back to a relatively safe position. The silent, dead Exceeder, weightless as it was, began to roll under the sudden pull on its side. Ben had to force himself to look away from the earth and stars, which were now unusually clear. This left little else to satisfy his attention, so he instead directed his gaze to the hull of the large spacecraft on which he was standing. This was not really an ideal time for nausea.

After mounting himself in a reasonably stable position, he brought up the suit's HUD. It was a simple two-dimensional projection of light onto the multi-surface, supposedly indestructible glass in front of his face. Even so, it was a most intuitive system, controlled entirely by a non-invasive ECG reader built into the head-section of the suit. Once locating the coordination file, he ran the application, and crouched closer to the hull. Inside the suit, a green light appeared somewhere below Ben's HUD. Knowing that this was it, he used all possible force to leap from the scorched hull. Ben yelled as he was propelled out in the direction of the missiles, a lone drifter in the endless sea of the universe.

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Inevitably, Ben was fast growing bored of watching the Earth. Reminding himself that it may be the last time he would ever see it so alive did little to alleviate his tension. It was going to seem like a long wait. Already, about half an hour had passed, and he saw not the slightest change in the distance of either the moon or his blue home-world. He had always so underestimated how just how long it would take to reach the nearest star, let alone the nearest planet-killing missile. Another problem, was that his course was not perfectly straight. True, he was heading in precisely the right direction, though he was also revolving quite fast. Every so often, he would have to close his ever for a moment, unwilling to face the alternative of being sick.

About twice the previous time had passed, and Ben took notice of a dark, panelled something moving closer beneath him, or was it above him? He watched it grow larger, more detailed. With a sudden jerk of realization, he recognised the surface as the edge of the bio-missile's hull. He must have been off course by a minute amount, which translated into several miles over this distance. He tilted himself carefully, so that his feet would hit the hull first. This must have been the first real success all day, as he landed smoothly on the darkened vessel. There was no time left for curiosity. He broke into a kind of half-run, making sure the mag-locks of his feet always came in contact with the plating below. It did not take long before he was standing on the outside of a crude airlock, which looked to be on the verge of a blow-out. Though it could just be by design to keep away unwanted visitors such as himself. Deciding it this this or nothing, he pushed through the unlocked compressor door, stepping into the inner airlock. Finally entering a hallway of the vessel, he removed the suit, left it beside the airlock, and etched a symbol into the wall, just to the area to make it easier to find later if he needed. He then turned to investigate this strange new environment, and stopped dead.

"Oh, shi-" His shouts of grief were quickly interrupted, as a perfectly placed and extremely powerful electrostatic charge was fired, blowing him backward into a wall. He got unsteadily to his feet glaring in absolute shock and anger at the object responsible. It was a small sphere-shaped drone, not unlike those he had seen soar overhead back at the city. But those weren't armed. This particular model seemed more expertly designed, and less roughly assembled than the others. He dived clumsily out of sight as the drone moved into position for another shot. Without conscious thought, he reached for the Omnitrix. "Which to choose…" he thought quickly. Another, more intense shot ripped through the metallic bar behind which he had taken shelter. A freezing, white gas poured from it, clouding his vision. He had made a selection without realizing it, willing for it to be something useful. The normally blind flash of light was almost totally obscured by thick gas layer which was slowly dissipating.

A moment later, the familiar form of XLR8 emerged from the clearing haze, looking somewhat relieved that his first choice was the result. Ben ran forward, swiping at the attacking drone. At the last second, he missed though retained stability. The drone seemed able to adapt to the change of pace, as it began firing rapidly and changing position at great speed. One shot missed, the next hit him squarely in the back, the following shot missed yet again. The stalemate continued for minutes at a time, neither opponent quite capable of defeating the other. After what seemed like at least ten minutes of avoiding hits and hurling nearby objects at the converging drone, it malicious machine suddenly became completely still in midair. Its surface was internally illuminated by a dim red light. As Ben moved out from his next shelter, still very cautious and alert, he inspected the appearance of the drone. It appeared to be in some kind of recharge state. He hesitated for almost a full minute before moving in, suspicious that it may be some kind of trick, that it would wait until he was totally defenceless before dealing a crippling blow. At last, Ben decided the opportunity was a safe one. He stood directly in front of the machine, and brought his hand down hard. About half way through this process, however, the drone seemed to reach full power once more. Ben cursed himself for his own lengthy hesitation as yet another powerful blast of electrostatic energy knocked him backwards. Unlike the others, this shot was excruciatingly painful. It seemed to surge throughout him for moments before subsiding. Ben fell back to his original position to give the matter some thought. Had the drone detected his presence and reacted accordingly, or had its reactivation just been a coincidence as it reached full power? There was only one way to find out. He must wear it down once more.

As time went on, Ben began to suspect that it may actually have attacked as it had finish a recharge cycle. Where it was getting its power from was another good question, though best left for another time when he was not in life-threatening danger. The shots fired slowly decreased in intensity. The final shot merely knocked him off balance slightly. On this occasion, when the drone powered down, Ben wasted no time. He snatched up the nearest chunk of flooring he could find and ran toward the machine. It took nine heavy hits with this even heavier piece of metal before the crumpled drone finally fell to the floor.

Ben jumped as the sound of an opening airlock was heard from behind. He turned sharply, expecting to see more drones, or enemies. Instead, Gwen, Devoras, and Kevin trouped through the inner lock triumphantly.

The Omnitrix disengaged, and he observed each of them.

"Got some good news." Gwen said, cheerily. "Max is on his way. Turns out, there were operatives all over the world who've been hearing about this for days. They're planning a last stand in orbit, if worst comes to worst."

Ben nodded in appreciation, but his attention was fixed solely on Kevin.

"You bastard!" He shouted loudly. Ben gave him a look that could melt duranium. "Have you no shame!? Just got out of the void, did you? Thought you'd come crawling back for forgiveness!? After what you put us through all those years ago, I can't believe you would even show your face!"

Without warning, he ran at Kevin and hit him with a massive blow to the lower jaw. He dropped to the floor, groaning slightly from the force of the impact but wasted no time in pulling himself back upright. He in turn slammed Ben up against the wall. The fight continued to escalate for minutes before Gwen and Devoras unwillingly stepped in to salvage the situation.

"This isn't the time, guys!" Gwen called over the ensuing chaos. "This isn't going to get us anywhere!"

"He started it!" Kevin shouted. "It's not my fault that-"

Kevin paused, considering what he was about to say.

"Well, actually, it _is_ my fault, but still!"

After it became clear that the two would never give in on their own, Gwen was forced to separate them forcibly with two bright projections of red energy. "Come on" She said. "We need to stop these missiles. You can sort this out later, but for now, you have to concentrate on what really important. We only get one shot at this, and we can't afford to make a mess of it."


End file.
